


Remember Me?

by wisia



Category: The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Diners, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-25 07:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3802348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisia/pseuds/wisia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve would really like to date Tony Stark, but only if the guy could remember him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Based off this prompt here:  
> http://punkparatroopers.tumblr.com/post/114657284183/meet-weird-aus
> 
> "you come into my 24hr diner at the oddest times bc of your weird job but you keep forgetting that we talk because youre always sleep deprived”

“Steve,” Bucky called out. His face was smug, and his hand was outstretched, waiting meaningfully. “Your guy is here again.”

Steve glanced at the round clock adoring the wall over the coffee pots. It read 3:13AM. Then, he checked the counter to be sure Bucky wasn’t fooling him, but the guy was really sitting there. Hunched over the granite, all grungy and greasy with black stains smeared across his cheeks and on his clothes.

“Damn it,” he said. He reached into his pocket and slapped a ten dollar bill onto Bucky’s palm. “How do you do that?”

“Just lucky, I suppose,” Bucky said, grinning. He tucked the bill into his back pocket, gleeful at accurately predicting when Steve’s guy would next show up. The guy—Tony Stark—came into the diner at the weirdest and most random time, usually on the high of sleep deprivation. He came in at one, two, or three o’cl—hell, he came in every hour there was on the clock and then some. Tony also never seemed to remember their conversations. It was like talking to one of the elderly people at the nursing home Steve volunteered at once a week. Well, the ones that had dementia or Alzheimer’s anyway.

“Uh huh,” Steve said. “You can’t keep being lucky. I’ll win one of these times.”

“Sure you will,” Bucky said. He shucked off his apron, slinging it over his shoulders. “If there’s nothing else, I’m taking off.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just go, you punk,” Steve waved him off. “I’ll take care of our special guest.”

“You jerk,” Bucky said. “I should stay just to spite you.”

Steve glared at him as he prepared a cup of coffee, made extra strong. Bucky put his hands up, walking backward.

“Going, I’m going. I don’t want to know what kinky things you get up to with him.”

“Bucky!”

Bucky laughed as he left, bell jangling on the door as it opened and closed. Steve sighed, but he was really glad that Bucky left. He kind of enjoyed his time with Tony, when it was just the two of them in the dead of the night.

“Coffee?” Tony asked. His eyes were a bit glazed, and it tickled Steve how hopeful Tony sounded. In fact, he was already making grabby hands for it. “Gimme.”

“Yeah, coffee.” Steve placed the cup in front of Tony. Kind of rude, but Steve gathered he was a zombie without some caffeine in him first. “Careful, it’s hot—“

Tony ignored his advice like always, inhaling the drink as if it was nothing. Steve winced to think how often the man burned his tongue.

“Or not,” Steve finished.

“Hm,” Tony sighed happily. It always amazed Steve how he could drain the cup in less than a minute or so.

“Another?” Steve asked, taking the cup.

“Yeah,” Tony said. He looked a little more awake now, the glaze in his eyes much less noticeable. Well, alive enough to talk.

“How about food?” Steve asked as he poured another cup. Tony was on the thin side, and his wrists looked as bony as Steve’s did when he was younger and sick all the time.

“No, I’m good,” Tony said, and Steve resolved to put something in front of him anyway. It would be eaten eventually. Tony blinked, looking around. Steve waited for it. “Hey, where am I?”

And there it was. He looked entirely confused, forehead scrunched up and furrowed as he took in his surroundings. Steve had seen it enough time to draw the expression from memory  _and_ in real time. Tony sometimes babble which was nice to listen to, but when it got technical and incoherent Steve just sat there and sketched while listening with one ear.

“My diner,” Steve said, putting the second cup of coffee down in front of Tony and a third. Because Tony was sure to empty the second just as quick. Though, Steve really shouldn’t feed him more caffeine. Tony was always about ready to keel over from lack of sleep.

Oh,” Tony said. “Awesome. And a third cup?”

“You seem like you need it,” Steve said. Actually, Tony often drank at least six cups of coffee in his presence. It was pretty excessive in Steve’s opinion, especially when Tony came in so late at night or early in the morning. However, Steve found he could cut Tony off at three or four cups if he distracted him enough.

“You’re a good man,” Tony smiled. He sipped slowly at the second cup of coffee. “So, been here long?”

“Since yesterday,” Steve said.

“Really?”

“No,” Steve said. “Had this place for several years now.”

“Oh,” Tony said. He fingered the handle of his cup. “What’s your name?”

“Tony,” Steve answered and watched Tony’s eyes go round in surprise.

“You don’t look like a me,” Tony pointed out. He squinted at Steve suspiciously. “Are you sure you’re a Tony?”

“Is that your name?” Steve asked, and he was struggling not to laugh. Over time, he had gotten quickly bored of answering Tony’s questions which were always the same. Also, the man was still a bit too sleep deprived to register that Steve had his nametag on with his  _actual_  name on it.

“Well, yeah.” Tony gestured to himself. “Tony Stark. Hot stuff here. Okay, maybe not right now. I swear I look a lot better than this normally.”

“Uh huh,” Steve said. He put a plate of doughnuts next to Tony’s coffee. “Here. Eat. You look like you need it.”

“Is that—,” Tony looked down at the plate. “Oh man, this my favorite kind of doughnut. It’s enough to make me cry.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Steve said though it really wasn’t a guess. Tony mentioned it enough time over other visits. Steve probably knew more about him than was healthy. He leaned against the counter. Tony took a bite and groaned at how heavenly it tasted.

“God, marry me.”

“That’s not my name,” Steve quipped. “But sure.”

“Really? You would marry a total stranger?”

“You’re offering to a total stranger.” That wasn’t true, of course, but it wasn’t like Tony would remember this in the morning.

“You can’t take my last name though,” Tony said, licking his fingers of all the wonderful diabetes inducing sugar. “We can’t both be Tony Stark.”

“How unfortunate.”

“Terrible,” Tony agreed. “What’s your last name? Please tell me it’s not tacky.”

“Rogers,” Steve said and watched as Tony yawned into the third cup of coffee. The man was full and sated, and in about five minutes he was going to wander off home after paying a ridiculous amount of money for coffee and doughnuts.

“Tony Rogers,” Tony said sleepily. “That sounds really nice actually. I can live with that, but we can’t have two Tony Rogers either.”

“There’s really only one Tony Rogers,” Steve said, “if you marry me.”

But Tony was already slumped over the counter, lightly snoring away. Huh, that was new. First time Tony didn’t stagger off for a cab to go home or whatever. Steve reached out to shake him awake and paused. No, the poor man didn’t get enough sleep as it is. Steve could at least let him catch a few hours, especially since he got so much amusement from it.

Steve went around the counter, picked him up gently, and placed him down on a cot in back where he and Bucky sometimes crashed on. Tony didn’t stir one bit, and not for the first time Steve found his breath catching at how good looking the guy was. It was too bad Tony never seemed to remember their conversations.

\-------------

Steve watched as Tony shifted in his sleep. It was about ten in the morning, and Sam already came in for his shift. He should probably wake him up.

“Hey,” he whispered quietly, crouching down next to the cot. “You awake?”

Tony stirred just a little before burrowing himself back into the blanket.

“No. Not awake,” he mumbled.

“Right,” Steve said with a smile. “You can’t stay here though.”

There was a pause, and Steve nearly had a heart attack when Tony bolted straight up. He looked around, eyes darting everywhere and unfocused before he settled on Steve.

“You,” Tony croaked.

“Remember me?” Steve asked. He didn’t think so, but one could hope.

“Uh,” Tony said. He still looked as if he didn’t get enough sleep.

“I guess not,” Steve said a sigh. “You fell asleep in my diner last night.”

“Oh,” Tony said. Then, he tilted his head, frowning. “Wait…did I ask you to marry me? That seems like something I remember or should be remembering, but I can’t tell anymore. Last time I invent for seventy four hours straight without stopping.”

“Seventy four?” God, no wonder why the man was always so out of it if he went that long without sleep.

“Yup,” Tony said. He swung his legs over the cot and cracked his neck, stretching. He looked up at Steve, eyelashes long and pretty. “So, did I ask you to marry me? Brain’s a bit fuzzy here.”

“You did,” Steve said. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold you too.”

“Aw,” Tony pouted. “Why not? I have lots of offer. Good looking, except not right now. I look really gross, I know. But I swear I clean up nice. I look better than this normally.”

Which Tony had said before multiple times.

“It’s more that you seem to have amnesia.”

“Outrageous,” Tony said. “I have a perfect memory. Almost eidetic. I’m a genius, you know.”

“A genius who can’t seem to keep himself from getting sleep deprived.”

“That’s—“ Tony stopped. “Okay, so I get a little sleep deficit. Sue me. You sure you don’t want to date me at least?”

“If you remember this, sure why not?”

And Tony did the next day, all dressed up like Steve had never seen him before.

**Author's Note:**

> I know. I got lazy with the ending. Don't really have time to, and I should work on my RBB. :T


End file.
